02 May 2015

Goodreads Synopsis: As America's Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They had tea with Jackie Kennedy, appeared on the cover of Life magazine, and quickly grew into fashion icons.

Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage, was the envy of the other wives; platinum-blonde Rene Carpenter was proclaimed JFK's favorite; and licensed pilot Trudy Cooper arrived on base with a secret. Together with the other wives they formed the Astronaut Wives Club, meeting regularly to provide support and friendship. Many became next-door neighbors and helped to raise each other's children by day, while going to glam parties at night as the country raced to land a man on the Moon.

As their celebrity rose-and as divorce and tragic death began to touch their lives-they continued to rally together, and the wives have now been friends for more than fifty years. THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history.

My Thoughts: I had a great time reading this book! It read like a novel, but it was a well-researched non-fiction history on a topic that surprisingly had never been covered before. Koppel conducted interviews with the surviving Astrowives and read the usual primary source documents. Her narrative is truly compelling.

I had seen this book by chance at work one day and was interested. After a recent viewing of Apollo 13, I immediately purchased a copy of the book and started as soon as I could. Then I began seeing the previews for the upcoming TV show based on the book. I am so excited about the show! And I'm curious to see how closely it will follow the book and how much it will veer off into total fiction. Either way, it's going to be interesting!

I loved how Koppel set up the narrative to show that these women were supposed to be utterly and completely traditional, while also being a part of the latest and greatest in technology via their husbands' work, and contrasting them with the women's movement going on outside of their world. As pseudo-celebrities, they had to suffer in silence while their husbands slept around. By the end of the space program, most of them got divorced, which I thought was surprising, but it also made sense due to the tremendous pressure of their husbands' work.

I was very happy to see how the women grew as time passed. They started standing up for themselves to their husbands and to NASA. One eventually became a very vocal proponent of the women's movement, having her own feminist talk show. Some of them had to deal with losing their husbands in a very public manner and then try to rebuild and restart their lives. Many dealt with alcohol and drug problems as coping mechanisms.

Yet the women created a very strong and loving support network, dropping everything in the case of an emergency, staying throughout the entirety of a flight operation with food and drinks in hand. It was a very strong community, which I thought was absolutely fantastic.

My one gripe about the book is that as the narrative progressed, Koppel seemed to rush through events and spoke less about the later astronauts' wives than about the earlier ones. The whole Apollo 13 mission got about a page and a half, if that. So I would have liked to see more, more, more.

All in all, it was a very fun read that was more like a novel than a cut and dry history. I highly recommend it. I think this would make a pretty good book club read and my edition has book club materials (discussion questions, recipes, an author interview) in the back.

01 May 2015

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I am sooooo excited to be rereading this novel again. It has been far too long. But it truly comes at a perfect time because I've been gradually returning to a version of myself that I actually liked, which oddly enough happens to most closely resemble a high school version of myself, older and wiser of course. I didn't totally dislike college me, but high school me read a whole lot more because I wasn't an English major. I feel like I am in a good place again and returning to this favorite novel of mine feels like an excellent decision.

And in high school I read Gone with the Wind twice a year. Seriously. I read the novel ten times between my first read the spring of 7th grade and the time I graduated. That averages to twice a year.

The person who first came up with the idea of a group read of this classic suggested using today to write a post gushing about all of the GWTW love that we felt. Done.

I've written about my love for this novel before on an old blog. I went on an excavation and found the post and am going to put up excerpts of it and add some new thoughts at the end...

So I started rereading it last night in bed. I turned on the fan so that I'd have to pull up my quilt. I read the preface written by Pat Conroy. Then I savored the words of the first chapter before deciding to call it a night. As soon as I started reading the preface, I felt a compulsion that I hadn't felt before. I was happier reading than I have been in a long time. I knew I had to read this book every chance I get. I knew that my new motto would become "If I get this (homework, errands, sleep) out of the way, then I *get* to read Gone With the Wind!" I actually bragged to one of my friends about it. Because *I* get to read this amazing novel right now.My first experience with Gone With the Wind was in the 7th grade. It was Christmas. I saw that Gone With the Wind, this movie that I had heard about from somewhere (I honestly don't know where because I hadn't gotten into old movies yet, but somehow I *knew* it was *The* movie to watch), was on TCM. We had already opened presents. My dad and I began watching the movie in the den while everyone else was in the sunroom. For whatever reason, I decided to read the screenplay as we watched the movie. And my papa was clueless about why I'd have the screenplay up while the movie was on because he was wanting to get his brand new wireless keyboard working. I couldn't really explain why I wanted to read the screenplay as I watched the movie, but it was like I knew how much this story would affect me. So that's what happened. We watched the movie, I read the screenplay, and I was hooked.Maybe that same day, maybe another visit to my grandparents', I found a copy of the novel upstairs. This amazing movie was also a novel?! I took it. It wasn't my first classic--I'd already read Huck Finn and that abridged copy of Pride and Prejudice by then (and maybe, but possibly not, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby). I didn't know what a classic was either at that point. I didn't know how famous this book was. In my 13 year-old mind, it was a lost book that nobody paid much attention to. I felt like I was discovering something amazing that people had forgotten. I remember feeling a little bewildered when I realized how many people knew and loved my book because Gone With the Wind had become my book. It wasn't that I was selfishly trying to hold onto it. I was willing to share. But I wanted to share it with people, to turn them onto this amazing little secret that I had.I read the book. I inhaled the book. I absorbed the book. I probably even displayed poor manners and outright devoured the book.But I read it again and again. It's one of those books that resonates more with some people than others. I believe that it resonates more with Southerners because it's telling our story. Your heart swells with pride, hope, and acceptance as you turn the pages. You nod your head in complete understanding as the plot progresses. You laugh and cry as the passages dictate. [Note--I feel like I need to step in here and say that the racial stuff is not included in this pride and understanding.]From the time that I was 13 years-old, I adopted Scarlett as my role model. She may not have always done the most upright thing. But she did what she had to do to survive. She was strong. She was beautiful. She was pretty smart. She had the personality that I always wanted. She had Rhett Butler, that symbol of earthy manliness that my exes never really lived up to, but against whom they were always measured.And for the last 11 years, she has been there. Sometimes at the back of my mind. Sometimes at the front. I've said ever since that first time that this is my favorite novel. Then why haven't I read it in six years? I really can't explain that. Maybe I took all I could take from it as a teenager and had to change enough to be able to take more from it.I am ready to again devour Gone With the Wind. I want to will myself into reading it more slowly this time, to let it soak in again, to get lost in the beauty of Mitchell's magic and not just get lost in Scarlett (although, I know that I will do this too). Some of the lessons I still remember and follow (sometimes you have to be a little bold to get by), others I remember and quietly ignore (not leaning on my elbows because it makes them ugly), and others I've downright forgotten. But this, this is the book that I want living in me. Pat Conroy describes in his preface how his mother lived this book. I used to live it too, but I lost it somewhere along the way.I'm ready to pick it back up now and carry it with me.

It's been two and a half years since I wrote that post. For one reason or another I didn't finish. But my thoughts and feelings towards the book are the same. Obviously, I didn't discuss the current political ramifications of liking the novel. I don't have a lot to say about it because a lot has already been said. I don't love this novel because of the presence of the Civil War. (I actually kind of hate reading or talking about the Civil War) What I like about the novel is that Scarlett made some really tough decisions for herself and a lot of other people who depended on her at a time when the rulebook had been thrown out the window, though women still weren't supposed to do certain things...even when they had no choice. She made unpopular decisions and stuck by them, which is at least admirable because some of her decisions weren't really good decisions and she faced the consequences. She and Rhett are complex, realistic characters and I love reading about them. Their story could have been told at several points throughout history when other cultures have been utterly overturned. The Civil War aspect is not integral to my reasons for liking the story. Therefore the political aspects of the novel were never really a sticking point for me, though, yes, much was deplorable about the South at that time.

Anyway, I've been thinking about Scarlett lately. I watched part of the movie as I fell asleep the other night when it was on TV. I recently found a Scarlett Madame Alexander doll. I organized my various copies of the novel together (except for the hardcover copy that sits on my desk along with my favorites). I am so ready to reread this novel again.

The "schedule" for the readalong has us reading ten chapters for every check-in. I almost see myself devouring the novel in a fever pitch immediately, then going back and reading the ten chapter segments. We'll see what happens.

I own five physical copies of the novel and the ebook. I don't know which edition I will read. My old mass market copy is highlighted like crazy because I had to mark all of my favorite parts, naturally. :) I may switch back and forth depending on what I'm doing and what size purse I feel like carrying that day.

If you're joining the readalong too, happy reading! I can't wait to check out your posts and thoughts as we go through this novel together.

30 April 2015

How I Got This Book: Honestly, I don't remember where I bought it, but I know I purchased my copy.

Goodreads Synopsis: This is the life of T.S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields--a feminist leader ahead of her time. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a world of sexual extremes--even of sexual assassinations. It is a novel rich with "lunacy and sorrow"; yet the dark, violent events of the story do not undermine a comedy both ribald and robust. In more than forty countries--with more than ten million copies in print--this novel provides almost cheerful, even hilarious evidence of its famous last line: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one, even though it took me a while to finally finish. It's funny because I stopped in the middle of a chapter because it started to drag for me. Several weeks later I picked it back up and within two pages it picked up and I couldn't hardly put it down.

This is my second experience with John Irving. I read and loved The Cider House Rules back in high school. I own two (three?) more of his novels. A Prayer for Owen Meany will definitely be my next Irving.

Though it didn't seem like it before reading the novel, the above synopsis (which is also on the back of my copy of the book) does a pretty good job of summing up the plot.

It leaves out the hilarious and real characters that Irving creates within this novel. They are complex. They have layers. They mean well and are serious, but at times sometimes totally undermines that and it's hilarious and that's how life is.

One of the main things I took away from this novel is that you should just be good and kind to folks because they're folks. Don't judge. Don't hold them to your own personal standards. Help them, regardless of who they are, because they need help. And also oftentimes you can help and support someone the most by just listening and being there. It doesn't always take a crazy act of solidarity to show your support.

My one gripe is the last chapter, which goes through the main characters and details what happens to them. As I read it, it felt like it dragged. But I know if this hadn't been included, I would have been frustrated and wondered what happened. Many of the characters met comical ends, which was kind of "eh" for me.

All in all this is a good book. And I think I would probably read it again some day.

28 April 2015

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
5. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
6. Moby Dick by Herman Melville--as always, in progress...but I am going to finish this SOB
7. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas--I'm going to read this in July
8. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
9. Light in August by William Faulkner
10. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
11. John Adams by David McCullough
12. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

I've read 3 of my 12, which isn't too bad for April. I haven't given up in despair yet, so that's good. I am currently periodically reading Moby-Dick and I plan on reading The Three Musketeers in July. Maybe Lisa will volunteer to read another one from this list with me soon so I can cross off another...

25 April 2015

A couple of weeks ago, I posted my review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I vowed to implement the cleaning methods she details in the book and write about it. I did the cleaning. And now I'm finally writing about my experiences. :)

I started bright and early...after I had coffee and (maybe?) did yoga and after both of my parents went off to work. I started with my clothes, per directions.

I pulled allllllll of the clothes from both closets. (I keep my off-season stuff and the stuff that doesn't fit yet in the guest room) I picked up each thing item by item and made decisions. Honestly, I didn't have a whole lot to get rid of because I regularly go through my closet and get rid of things and I had just done that a month and a half ago or so. I do have a good stack to go through and try on and really soul-search...but I figure I can probably get rid of a lot of the things in that pile.

No, this part really helped in that I reorganized the way my hanging clothes go.

Then I pulled out my purses, pajamas, jeans, tank tops, exercise clothes, and other miscellaneous stuff from the drawers.

Many huge piles.

Upon getting rid of things in these categories, I was able to store everything comfortably in the drawer it belonged in. No more cramming. Though, to be honest, I can't say that I particularly care for putting things in vertically. I prefer the neatness of horizontal stacks (and, yes, sometimes things get caught on the top), but I can see everything and won't overlook the things I don't wear as often. I'm still thinking about this one.

Partway through this leg of things, I got a little punchy and found myself a nice headscarf.

Back to the organizing of the drawers...

I am very happy with how my shoes are organized! I feel like the little brown shelves in the closet could be better used, but I didn't have a better spot for my boots, so I think I'll keep it for now.

Next was books. Most of my books are kept in my office. In my room, I have my nightstand, a small bookcase, and a couple of shelves on the bookcase that holds my stereo. The easiest thing to do was to drag the books into my office.

I hated transporting them this way. I know that they're inanimate objects, but it felt a little disrespectful. Anyway. It was effective.

But my office was looking like this...

So once I dragged the books in there, I pulled out everything from my office that I could, which meant my room looked like this.

I made sure I had a clear path to the door in case of fire. Safety first and whatnot. But my theory was that by moving everything out of my office, I would have to deal with it before moving it back in.

I pulled all of the books from my shelves and separated it into fiction and non-fiction.

The nearer "island" is non-fiction; the further "island" is fiction.

And here's where I got stuck for a while. I just wanted it to be easy to find whatever I was looking for. So categorizing the non-fiction books became an issue. How much did I want to break it down? History separate from biographies, but what about collections of letters? What about anthologies? I finally forced myself to cull.

Again, I had done it recently, so I didn't have a ton that I was getting rid of.

By the time I almost finished with books, it was 7:00. I hadn't had any supper. I had run out of shelves (my mom kindly helped me find more space). And my room still looked like this:

I pulled the discarded books out of my office and into the hallway. The plan was to get them sold at a local used bookstore ASAP to just get the out of the damn house. To finally cease and desist with the hemming and hawing and "maybe, one day I'll read this one...perhaps." Nope. I just wanted to get them out and move on with life.

I could have left everything in my room for another day, but that would have meant finding another place to sleep. And I had an important meeting the next day. So I decided to just move everything back into my office.

So, all in all, the do it all in one day KonMari cleaning method was a failure for me. I had way too much crap to do the entire thing that quickly. I didn't feel particularly overwhelmed, but it was kind of exhausting. And certainly eye-opening.

However, the spirit of the method was a huge success for me. I sold all of my fiction books (100? 150? 200?) at the used bookstore the next day. I got a disappointing amount considering that many of the book had never been read. But they were out of the house. I felt lighter. I will do the same with the non-fiction once I hear back from a friend about taking some of them. For the clothes I'm going to contact a consignment store about buying what they'll take, then I'll donate the rest to a local charity. I plan on doing that this week. I think that pulling out everything in one category and dealing with it all before moving along was a big part of the success I did have. I touched every item. I considered it. And I made a decision.

As for everything else...I've done a little bit of work on grouping the stuff still in my office to make it easier to go through. All of the school supplies I could find are together. I put all of the papers in one huge plastic bin so I can go through them. And so on. I'll probably tackle this stuff bit by bit. Maybe a couple of categories a day on my days off.

My room is looking a lot better. I moved some of the things I was wanting out of my room, such as a plastic bin under my desk that held random items, and into the office so I can deal with it when I get to it, as opposed to leaving it in a spot that made me anxious every time I saw it.

I decided that I want my stuff to be arranged, not haphazardly stacked and cluttered the way it had been. I've also noticed myself dealing with things immediately as opposed to setting them aside for later. I just got back into town this afternoon and I immediately unpacked and put away my things, which included some new clothes, as opposed to reverting to the old habit of basically living out of my suitcase until it naturally emptied itself (and I found a place to store my suitcase in my closet as opposed to under the chest of drawers!).

Bottom line--This book engendered a change in attitude for me. I examine all of my belongings pretty regularly now and am constantly finding new things to get rid of that I hadn't previously considered getting rid of. I feel a lot calmer in my room. And I feel confident about getting my office to a manageable state in the near future. Say, by the end of May. I call it a success.

Read the book. Learn the lessons you need to learn. And adapt the method to what will work for you.

21 April 2015

Yay! Another Tuesday! This week, The Broke and the Bookish is discussing our top ten favorite authors.

I actually thought about this one quite a bit. A lot of my favorite books were written by authors who wrote the one book (or wait 50 years between publishing things), so it's kind of difficult to call them a favorite author because I only know the one book OR I've only read one book by that author, which makes it difficult to say they're a favorite author. Here we go...

1. John Steinbeck Wowzers! Steinbeck was a fantastic storyteller. He painted great pictures within his stories, completely fleshing out the setting so that you feel like you were there. I absolutely adore East of Eden (definitely need to reread this summer! [or sooner]). I'm taking a volume of his novellas with me this week when I leave town so I can see what he does on a smaller scale.2. Ernest Hemingway I love Hemingway's art of brevity. He was a master storyteller. I'm not sure he could have written a fully fleshed out female character to save his life, but I can't help loving him. He mastered the novel and the short story. Most of all, though, I love Hemingway's precision. He said exactly what he meant, was able to write a vivid account, but he said nothing more. There is very little fat and gristle to his work.3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Another master storyteller. He kind of did it all as well--novel, novella, and short story (though I'm not very familiar with the last two forms). He wrote one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read and one of the most fantastical epics. His work is always a pleasure to read because I know it's going to be a great story.4. William Faulkner Faulkner is basically the polar opposite of Hemingway. And I love Faulkner for his highly descriptive style as much as I love Hemingway for his precision. His works are epics in and of themselves. I love how the characters bleed over from one novel to the next. I had to suppress a loud "Heyyy!" when I came across a reference to Colonel Sartoris in Light in August. I had the pleasure of visiting Faulkner's home last spring and it was fantastic. I would love to just dive into his world.5. Hunter S. Thompson This guy is a trip, but he's so much fun to read. He was an astute observer of the social and political climate of the 60s and 70s. I think he introduced a lot of people to the counterculture, which is truly interesting (at least to me). An oral history I read about him after his death illuminated an extremely interesting man who lived by his own code. And don't even get me started on The Rum Diary. I love that novel!6. Truman Capote Without Truman, we never would have had Holly Golightly. The world--at least the world according to Lori--owes him a huge debt for this. His true crime fiction In Cold Blood is completely creepy, but utterly compelling. I love that he's written something for my two predominant reading moods--Southern stories and New York stories. Plus he was a character.7. Elizabeth Gilbert Disclaimer--I haven't read any of her stuff before Eat Pray Love. But I love how open and honest and raw her writing is. I follow her on social media and I love reading the snippets she shares regularly. Her attitude really inspires me to be more introspective. Her recent novel, Signature of All Things was beautiful and sweeping. I can't wait to see what she continues to come out with!8. Frances Mayes The first time I started Under the Tuscan Sun, I was bewildered because it was NOTHING like the amazing Diane Lane movie that I adored. I had to push through. But I really appreciated the writing. The whole book is about renovating this dilapidated farm house. Literally. She walks you through the selection process for new fixtures and other renovations and includes bits about the culture and the formation of their lives there and I was completely fascinated. She eventually wrote a cookbook of favorite Tuscan foods, which I love dipping into. I love her travel writing. I love what I've read of her memoir Under the Magnolia. Like so many others, I still haven't gotten into her poetry. :/

And a bit of a throw back to my childhood...

9. Shel Silverstein My dad and I read Silverstein's poems regularly at bedtime. Very, very regularly. Silverstein had such a great way with language that made it fun to read the rhymes. Granted, I still haven't gotten into a more serious study of poetry, but I think fondly of these poems. Also, let's not forget The Giving Tree. That was a great story! Though I know there are debates about whether it teaches selfishness or selflessness, I don't feel like it warped me as I grew into adulthood.

10. Ann M. Martin Best known for The Babysitters Club series, yes, but I LOVED the California Diaries series. At least what I read of it. I have the first ten books. I have no idea if there are more. But I remember reading this starting in the 4th or 5th grade and being enthralled. The girls were a little bit older and their problems were so damn sophisticated compared to mine! Their problems were a little bit grown-up, but, for me, that really kind of played into being an only child surrounded by adults.

18 April 2015

Don't get me wrong. I love me some Atticus Finch. But his kind of morality is something that mere mortals like me can only aspire to with the knowledge that they probably won't ever live up.

Nope. Give me someone unlikable--a Scarlett, a Rhett, a Nick and Amy, even a Humbert Humbert--and I'll be happy.

What's there to like about unlikable characters, you might ask?

A lot.

They tend to be more complex than other characters. They have a unique moral compass, which sometimes points towards good, sometimes towards bad, and sometimes towards self-interested. We'll go with a spoiler from Gone Girl. Why would Nick and Amy decide to stay together? Because they're unlikable characters who have their own unique reasons for doing things. Nick stays because he feels like it's responsibility, but he also can't quite help himself; Amy stays because Nick kind of returned to the asshole she fell in love with. Think about it--how often do you (or someone you know, because we're far better at judging other people's actions than our own) do something that makes absolutely no sense to anyone else, but you have you own very good reason? Quite often, I would imagine. Doesn't make you bad. It makes your decision unlikable.

They have a wider range. I think this makes them more interesting. You never quite know what they're going to do. They might do something good or they might do something bad or they might go with a third option. But you can't really guess what they're going to do. The good characters, the likable ones, such as Melanie, you know what they're going to do.

They tend to be more fascinating. Let's take Humbert Humbert. Pedophile! Yet we continue to read Lolita, a novel told from the perspective of the pedophile as he walks us through his lust and acting on his lust. His actions are utterly despicable, but his analysis and insights into himself truly fascinate me. I can't help but being drawn in by his storytelling. I don't know much about psychology, but I think if I did, I would love to analyze him.

Lastly, I think unlikable characters are more realistic. People can change, yes. But the kind of 180 transformation so often portrayed in movies and books isn't realistic. People struggle to be good all the time. And if someone does make a radical change to themselves, I can pretty much guarantee they will struggle for goodness somehow. An article I read not too long ago was talking about Seinfeld being a show without some sort of moral epiphany at the end. These characters weren't going to become good at the end of an episode. They were going to remain the same unlikable people they were at the end. I don't care for the show, but I do appreciate that about it. The characters keep it real. They are who they are and you can take them or leave them--just like real people. Everybody who's interesting to be around or talk to has a vice of some kind, in my opinion.

Of course, all this might really do is prove that I'm an unlikable character myself...

As I read through the messages this morning, I wanted to cry. I went through a long, bad phase where I was thoroughly unhappy with just about everything in my life, but I've recently started coming out of it, returning to who I was when I was my strongest and happiest (only now with the benefit of wisdom and perspective and experiences!). Oddly enough, that was during high school. I realized that many of the #tothegirls tweets were messages I had internalized long ago. I was blessed as a child to live in a world populated by adults who encouraged me in every I wanted to do. I was never discouraged from wanting or trying or doing anything just because I was a girl. This is continued today. Not everyone is so lucky.

Another aspect in which I was very lucky as a child was that my parents and grandparents and uncle all supported my desire to read by buying me books and buying me gift cards to book stores. I know I was denied toys I wanted, but I was never denied books. Even books that were quite possibly too old for me, but that's a different story.

The two came together. I started thinking about all of the female characters I met during those formative years who showed me strength and helped--along with the strong women in my life--inspire me to think I could do anything. I could probably go on and on, but I'll stop with three strong female characters that touched me during my formative years.

Matilda Wormwood and Miss Honey. This may be cheating a little bit because I saw the movie first when I was eight. But Matilda made me unafraid to be smart. She read books and I thought that that was pretty cool, so I wanted to read books. I began to believe in the power of books.

“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”
― Roald Dahl, Matilda

Like Matilda, my parents didn't really monitor what I read, though mine were in no way uncaring and unsupportive like hers. I had wonderful teachers like Miss Honey who were patient and encouraging and engaging.Scarlett O'Hara. I first encountered Scarlett when I was thirteen. No list of mine dealing with reading experiences during teenage years could take place without her. As a teenager, I saw only her transformation from a spoiled girl into a woman who did what she needed to do to help her family survive. She didn't grow up having chores. The book plainly says she was horrible in school. Yet she took over the planting on the plantation. She helped form the lumber business and helped the store prosper. She made business contacts. She suffered socially for doing what she wanted. But I couldn't help admiring her ability to adapt to the new circumstances in which she found herself. She also went after what she wanted. She shouldn't always have gone after what she wanted (you know, like, other gals' boyfriends) but I admired her determination.

Novalee Nation. I first encountered Where the Heart Is my freshman year of high school. I cannot recall how many times I've reread this novel. I love that it takes place in Oklahoma. And I love the resilience of Novalee. She was in a bad situation--dumped pregnant at a WalMart in a state in which she knew no one and had no one back home to call for help. She rose above a lot. She had a horrible childhood with an unreliable mother, no father, and bad foster parents. No education. And a bad string of luck with men. She didn't let those things hold her down. She had a day job, but also found and thrived at her true calling as a photographer. And the message "just because he treated you like trash, doesn't mean you are trash." Admittedly, I've done better at some times than others at drawing a line in the sand as far as my treatment from boyfriends or even just friends and acquaintances goes. But I know that deep down I've always known that their actions are more a reflection of them than they are of me.

There. Short and sweet. Three female characters who played a pivotal role during my formative years.

11 April 2015

How I Got This Book: I bought a copy at a bookstore a couple of years back

Goodreads Synopsis: Twenty-four years after her first novel, Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson returns with an intimate tale of three generations from the Civil War to the twentieth century: a story about fathers and sons and the spiritual battles that still rage at America's heart. Writing in the tradition of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, Marilynne Robinson's beautiful, spare, and spiritual prose allows "even the faithless reader to feel the possibility of transcendent order" (Slate). In the luminous and unforgettable voice of Congregationalist minister John Ames, Gilead reveals the human condition and the often unbearable beauty of an ordinary life.

My Thoughts: I'm thinking 2015 might be the year of the sucker-punch novel. This is the fourth (maybe fifth?) novel that I've read this year that can best be described as leaving me feeling sucker-punched...in the best possible way.

The narrative structure of this novel is a Congregationalist minister who is nearing the end of his life writes a journal for his son, who is seven, so that someday the son can discover who his father truly was. In the course of writing the journal, the father reveals things about himself that no person could ever reveal through the medium of a conversation. I think when the son eventually reads this journal, he would learn more about his father than if he had spent a lifetime with him. The father also veers off into writing about his struggle with his feelings towards his godson--the wayward son of the minister's best friend, who suddenly and mysteriously reappears after a long absence.

As I read this novel, I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't reading something by Faulkner or Thomas Wolfe. Robinson has this masterful way of telling a story through small moments. At one point, I caught myself wondering when something was going to happen, but I quickly realized that she was writing about life, which is comprised of many small moments that amount to a large story.

This is the third novel in a row that I've read that deals with one human's ability to connect with another. In so many ways we are all alone on this journey through life, but through patience, forgiveness, and understanding, we can form connections with others.

I've got so many passages underlined. I quickly knew that I was absolutely hooked on this story, so I made sure that I had absolutely nothing planned on Thursday so that I could read all day. I didn't expect to finish over the course of two days, but I couldn't put it down.

Robinson is a truly beautiful and poetic writer who can pack a lot of emotion and understanding in her seemingly simple prose. I cannot wait to read the next two books in this set (and the fourth one that is supposedly coming).

Goodreads Synopsis: Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

My Thoughts: I read this in one afternoon the day I bought it. At a couple of points I was almost in tears as I confronted thoughts about my stuff and my mess, but in a good way. Parts of the book felt like a therapy session or having a bottle of wine with a good friend and having a real and serious talk. I underlined something or some things on many pages.

Kondo walks the reader through the act of decluttering and storing one's personal items--clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and finally mementos. You pick up each item and determine whether it gives you joy. If so, you keep it. If not, you get rid of it. She preaches that you shouldn't have shame for getting rid of something that is lightly or not at all used. Sometimes the purpose of the object was to buy it and hang on to it for a while, but it's time to let it go. For someone who has tremendous guilt over getting rid of things I haven't used, I appreciated that. Once you determine what you are going to get rid of, she walks you through some advice on how to store each category of item.

This process could also be applied to kitchen gadgets and other stuff throughout the house.

She explicitly says to never ever take the liberty of going through and getting rid of someone else's stuff.

Her students have had tremendous success after following her method. And to date none have ever backslid into clutter.

I like that she doesn't prescribe how much stuff you should keep. She allows that different people have different interests and are bound to feel joy from owning more books or shoes or clothes than some other person. She also doesn't say that you need to get rid of so many items or so much percentage of each category. It's all up to you and your gut.

I like that she doesn't have you go out and buy various organizational implements. She says that at first you just need to get rid of stuff, then you store it and that happens all in one fell swoop. Frequently, you can find all the boxes and whatnot that you need already in your home, but in the cases where you can't, take some time to find boxes or whatever that you really and truly like otherwise you'll start the cycle of clutter over again.

I love that before you even start getting rid of stuff, she counsels you to envision the kind of space you are wanting to create and why. And add a couple of more whys as follow-up questions to your answers until you finally get to the ultimate reason--because it will make you happy. Every person is different, but by getting rid of their excess, we can all get to that point of happy and relaxed in our personal spaces.

I also love that you get the whole thing done in one marathon day of decluttering and storing. The important thing would be to make sure you donate what you're going to donate, recycle what you're going to recycle, and trash what you're going to trash immediately. So that you don't talk yourself into changing your mind and so that someone else doesn't either guilt you into keeping something or decide to take it for themselves (which would add to their personal clutter).

Now. The negatives about the book. At times it gets a little woowoo, such as thanking your possessions on a daily basis for doing what they need to do (I mean, I went ahead and tried thanking my bra last night as I got ready for bed, but I felt a little silly for saying "Thanks for supporting the team.") or unpacking your purse every single night when you get home in order to give it a rest. But other of her suggestions are totally worth trying, such as her folding techniques for various articles of clothing.

I absolutely plan on trying this next week when I have a couple of days off. The decluttering and storing part will get done the first day, but anything I decide to donate will likely have to wait until the next day to actually be dropped off, though we shall see.

If it works, I'll only have to do this once. :)

I'll absolutely write a post about the process when I do it. Hopefully there will be pictures!

08 April 2015

How I Got This Book: I bought it way back in the day in the Oprah's Book Club boxed set.

Goodreads Synopsis:Light in August, a novel about hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality, features some of Faulkner’s most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, who is plagued by visions of Confederate horsemen; and Joe Christmas, a desperate, enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry.

My Thoughts: I cannot freaking believe that it took me so long to read this novel!

Admittedly, it starts off (like many Faulkner novels) kind of slowly and erratically. You are introduced to these characters and you learn about them bit by bit, but you don't know why you're learning about them. Then it clicks. And speeds up. Though in true Faulknerian style, there is a lot of description and using of ten words to say one. (Sidenote--Does anyone else love the classic Hemingway-Faulkner exchange of barbs as much as I do? [see number 8 on the list]) But that's OK. It's what I love about Faulkner, just as I love Hemingway's sparseness.

There were times I felt the need to read the Sparknotes to confirm what I had just read and make sure I hadn't missed anything important. And that was fine. As the novel progressed, I did that less and less.

This was another novel about human connection and interaction and how alone we can all sometimes be, which made it an interesting read coming on the heels of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. I'm really glad that I read those two so closely, to be honest. It was interesting to see how both authors dealt with the topic.

Three of your main characters--Lena, Hightower, and Christmas--are all following, hunting something and are also being chased or haunted by something. And it's interesting to see the way they all deal with that. My favorite way, of course, is that the journey is the journey and that's part of life.

Byron Bunch is an important character in the lives of the other three characters, but he's not mentioned in the synopsis, which is a shame.

Faulkner has some lovely and powerful passages in here. I particularly loved "Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders."

And I love how he switches to an unknown narrator to tell the last chapter. I think that distance, that inclusion of a stranger's perception of the character this chapter deals with, makes the novel. If he had used a close narrator, I think a lot of the point and power of the novel as a whole would have been lost.

This is a fantastic novel. It covers all of the topics that are still important today--race, sexuality, religion, class, and others. We all make decisions and sometimes there are good consequences, bad consequences, and unforeseen consequences--but that is life. And that is what this novel is ultimately about.

I still think As I Lay Dying might be my favorite Faulkner, but this is so far a close second. Fortunately, I have tons more Faulkner to read to see how that may or may not change.

Lastly, I am very proud of myself and Lisa for finally finishing a buddy read. Go us!

Goodreads Synopsis: With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron shares with us her ups and downs in "I Feel Bad About My Neck, " a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself.

The woman who brought us "When Harry Met Sally . . ., Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, "and" Bewitched, " and the author of best sellers "Heartburn, Scribble Scribble, " and "Crazy Salad, " discusses everything--from how much she hates her purse to how much time she spends attempting to stop the clock: the hair dye, the treadmill, the lotions and creams that promise to slow the aging process but never do. Oh, and she can't stand the way her neck looks. But her dermatologist tells her there's no quick fix for that.

Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. She recounts her anything-but-glamorous days as a White House intern during the JFK years ("I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House that the President did not make a pass at") and shares how she fell in and out of love with Bill Clinton--from a distance, of course. But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age.

Utterly courageous, wickedly funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, "I Feel Bad About My Neck" is a book of wisdom, advice, and laugh-out-loud moments, a scrumptious, irresistible treat.

My Thoughts: We all know I love Nora Ephron. I read this collection a few weeks after my papa's funeral. Again, it was the right book at the right time for me. I'll keep this short and sweet and highlight a few of my favorite essays from this collection.

It's difficult to pick favorite essays from her collections because they all speak to me on some level. I think from this collection, "I Hate My Purse" was my favorite. I've always been a purse lady. I love the never-ending search for the perfect purse. I love the act of changing out purses and deciding what to put in and what to leave out, how to organize things to make life easier, how to make the purse I carry a statement of who I feel like that day. So in many ways, this didn't apply to me. No, it was my favorite because of how much it reminded me of my mom. She is not a purse lady. She stuffs her pockets full of her wallet, her cell phone, notes, keys, whatever or she hands it off to me to put in my purse. Annoying. I wish I could get her to read this essay because I think she will see a lot of herself in it.

I also really loved the lengthy essay "Moving On," about her first apartment after the break-up of her second marriage. It was such a love story for a place that we all know--home. The place where things just kind of fall together for you and help you grow. The place can change over time, but the feeling of belonging doesn't.

Another favorite is "What I Wish I'd Known." This is another humorous list that has a touch of seriousness. Definitely a lot to take away from this essay. And it will definitely make you think about your own life.

02 April 2015

Goodreads Synopsis:"My father's wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us."

Brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny, Lucky Us introduces us to Eva and Iris. Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star, and Eva, the sidekick, journey across 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris's ambitions take them from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island.

With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine through a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life. From Brooklyn's beauty parlors to London's West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat, and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.

My Thoughts: It took me a few tries before I really got pulled into this book, but once I was drawn in, I couldn't, wouldn't, escape.

Bloom created such interesting characters that made me want to continue learning more and more about them. This was such an interesting place and time to write about and Bloom weaves a very interesting narrative. Just when you think these down and out people are sunk, something happens that helps further their aims.

I absolutely loved Eva! She reminded me so much of Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in that she was kind of shuffled here and there by the circumstances of her life, as opposed to by choice, she loved her family, and she had a tremendous love of learning that frequently had to be put on the back shelf. Still, everything turns out all right somehow in the end.

Speaking of the end--the last few pages of this book made the novel. I can't really talk about them without spoiling anything major, but OMG! SO. Beautiful!

I am so glad that I received this novel and that I finally picked it up. It was a five star read for me and I highly recommend it to people who love reading. The plot, narrative structure, characters, and language come together to create a wonderful storm of a novel that will leave you thinking and feeling for quite some time.

01 April 2015

Goodreads Synopsis:My Sunshine Away unfolds in a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom. But in the summer of 1989, when fifteen-year-old Lindy Simpson—free spirit, track star, and belle of the block—experiences a horrible crime late one evening near her home, it becomes apparent that this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia has a dark side, too.

In My Sunshine Away, M.O. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and page-turning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive.

My Thoughts: Wow. A Twitter friend mentioned this book and I bought it immediately because I trust her taste. Only partway through, I began brow-beating Bear into reading this one, encouraging her to abandon her current read and start immediately. Finally she relented and she thanked me for it. I think. I'll just say she did because I know she liked the book, so on some level she did thank me.

This has the elements of a thriller--in the opening pages a teenage girl is raped right down the street from her home and the narrator tries to figure out who did it--but it also is a wonderful, beautiful bildungsroman about growing up and life changing and becoming more complicated that we can all relate to. The real story is the narrator's personal development from a boy firmly ensconced in his little suburban home to a man who has faced some real challenges and changes and comes out the other side.

My heart broke a number of times throughout this novel, at big and small moments. The end left me feeling weird and utterly destroyed, yet somehow hopeful and wistful. For me, it was the same feeling I get at the end of To Kill a Mockingbird. I felt completely alive, but also somehow detached from my real world. Somehow I was able to drive to Chipotle and back in a fantastic haze.

31 March 2015

Note: Yes, I know. I've missed logging a few runs (and I've also missed a few runs for various reasons, including hellacious allergies). I did happen to take notes over this particular run, so I'm writing a post after the fact.

It was 60 degrees when I set out this morning. I wore some capri pants and a tank.

This was my first run using the armband I bought to hold my cell phone so I can listen to some music. On Sunday I decided to go for a very long walk, which included all of the culs-des-sacs and hills in my neighborhood and I listened to music the whole time. It was nice. For safety, I keep the music turned down really low and I run facing the traffic.

On this particular jaunt, I did more actual running than ever before. Not by a whole lot, but I am liking how it's becoming easier with each run. (Unfortunately, I've had to take well over a week off, so I don't know how much I'll have backslid by the time I actually go run again)

I met my mom for a cooldown.

I didn't do any yoga before going out. I didn't notice any difference in how I felt, which is good. But I think I would like to do yoga before my runs, just because that is more movement.

It feels like that was a pretty bare post. This is why I should make an effort to post immediately after I run, not a week and a half later. Oh, well. Life marches on.

30 March 2015

Yesterday I reposted a review of Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I mentioned that that book made me want to go on a hike. I did it. I hit a local trail for a hike. It wasn't a long trail, but I had a great time. So much so that I am going back later this week with a friend.

Here are some of my pictures and thoughts along the way.

The day I set out to hike was going to be a bit cooler than earlier in the week. The high was only going to be in the low 60s, but it was my only free day remaining for that week, so I went for it. But first I needed to stop and get some supplies. Namely a sketchbook and a certain novel...

And some lunch.

I have hiked this trail a number of times and the last time I did, I stopped and read for a while on a rock, hence bringing a book along. Oddly enough, this time I didn't see the rock, but my route was slightly different, so maybe it was on the other path.

I packed all of my stuff in my yoga bag because it has good pockets and is lightweight. I brought my flip flops with me on the off-chance that I had some sort of mishap and lost a hiking boot or two. :)

Obviously my hike was going to be nowhere near as strenuous, exciting, or breathtaking as Strayed's, but I couldn't wait to get going.

My mom offered some useful advice for my adventure.

The map the visitors' center provided was not the most easily deciphered. I meant to take the more difficult course the first time around, but in my haste to quickly bypass some women with children (loud, but having a good time!) I took the easier route. I quickly decided that I would take both routes--the second after lunch. This suited me and my stomach just fine.

There were some benches along the way. I vowed to stop at all of them. Not because I was tired, but out of gratitude for some unknown thoughtful person who put them along the way for reflection. I wrote this bit at the first wooden bench, overlooking a stream or creek below.

I finished the trail. I didn't actually come across more benches. Mostly because I took the rugged "bluff trail" when the trail split again. But that was good too. Naturally, survival wasn't on my mind, but when I was working that hard and trying to follow the not so well marked trail, I didn't have the capacity to think of anything else.

I did not wind up going to the bat cave my mom mentioned in the text. But I passed by it. I wish I had gotten pictures that gave a better sense of the "bluff trail." There were a lot of rocks and uneven footing. I frequently had to steady myself on a rock while I climbed through a narrow, uneven passageway. It was a great workout. And it was absolutely beautiful.

I returned to my car. Ate lunch. MacGyvered open my bottle of Coke using scissors that I found in my vehicle in the absence of a bottle opener. I had a pounding headache that was not food or caffeine related, so I decided to head home and come back another day.

I had a lot of fun. I hope that I can go fairly regularly this spring and summer.

29 March 2015

Goodreads Synopsis: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. Go read it. :)

Oh, you want more than that? OK, fine...

A lot has been said about the risks Strayed took in hiking the trail alone, without any sort of training ahead of time, and without much of a clue as to what to expect. OK, yes. Probably not the best idea in the world. But I looked past all of that towards the personal journey she was on.

The first part of the book details Strayed's past and how she got to the point of hiking the trail. She had an unusual childhood in a very primitive house. Her mom got sick and it destroyed her and her family. She went down a negative path, filled with drugs and lots of promiscuous sex, which led to the breakup of her marriage. For me, this part kind of lagged at times. You need the backstory in order to understand what comes later, but sometimes it felt like she got a little repetitive here. For re-reads, I will definitely skim this section.

She decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to finding a path to redemption.
She learns a lot about herself along the way.

I've had a year filled with a lot of change and a lot of grief--quitting a job, moving, caring for my grandfather while he was in the hospital, and then losing him. There were tons of moments along the way where I wanted to just run away and do something so physically taxing that I could leave behind all of the emotions. Like Strayed, I wanted to be so consumed with the very act of making it through the day that I couldn't focus on what was going on in my regular life. Reading about Strayed's own journey helped me process a lot of things.

I loved how open and honest and raw her writing was. She let it all out there, warts and all. She spoke in a voice I was able to relate to, though I have not had the same struggles or experiences she has had.

Aside from the personal, inner journey, I loved reading about the outer journey of hiking that kind of distance. I really enjoyed reading Bill Bryson's journey through the Appalachian Trail in A Walk in the Woods. It appealed to my inner travel bug. So much so that I told my mom that I want to go on a major hiking trip at some point. And so much so that I am going to start making it a point to hit a local trail on a regular basis.

Bottom line--for me this book was appealing on more than one level and I would highly recommend it to people interested in the physical adventure and to people interested in the inner journey. Not a "fun" read (in the sense of light), but definitely a good read that will make you think.